Hello again!

[Shule]

Hello, again. I'm no longer shule1 (just plain Shule).

I'm a gardener from southwestern Idaho who likes to grow edible plants. I like to get as close to dry-farming as is practical. I don't use much fertilizer. I'm a seed-saver. I like to trade and collect seeds. (My tradelists are on my website, if you want to see them.) I'm interesting in plant breeding.

Some particular edible plants of interest include the following (in alphabetical order):

• Basil (fun to grow)
• Black raspberries
• Blackberries
• Bunching onions (and other edible Alliums; a favorite, if I can handle the weeds!)
• Edible gourds (Lagenaria siceraria; a favorite)
• Epazote (a favorite to eat; I only grew it once, and it wasn’t the easiest to grow, but I plan to keep growing it)
• Ground cherries
• Morelle De Balbis (I have dreams of breeding a super awesome kind of it that produces a lot more and tastier fruit, but so far I’ve just been growing it every year without much comment.)
• Muskmelons (a favorite)
• Okra (sometimes a favorite)
• Peaches
• Plums
• Peppers (a favorite)
• Safflower (super easy to grow and save seeds; the seeds are pretty big)
• Squash (sometimes it’s a favorite)
• Strawberries
• Summer Savory (my favorite herb to grow)
• Sunflowers
• Sunroots (a favorite)
• Tomatillos
• Tomatoes (perhaps my second-favorite crop)
• Watermelon (my favorite crop)
• West India burr gherkins (a favorite)
• Wonderberries (perhaps my third-favorite crop)

[Tormahto]

Welcome Shule.

Would dry-farming watermelons be considered as an oxymoron?

[Shule]

Somehow they manage to stay wet!

[hdrider]

Hello and welcome.

My 20 year plan if I am lucky enough to live that long is to create an edible forest on my 168 acres. Most of your list is already on mine and the few I didn't recognize probably will be. I want to include as many berries and fruit trees as possible. I have been doing a lot of reading and research on different types of sustainable methods but haven't narrowed anything down to exactly which methods I will use. At different times of the year I have to deal with hot dry conditions and other times cold wet conditions. Been reading a lot about geothermal heating for a green house to deal with the winters in NE Mississippi. I need to get off my but and start trying things to find out what will or will not work for me. I bookmarked your website to check things out, thanks!

[Shule]

[mention]hdrider[/mention]
Awesome! Thanks. I'm glad to hear you're interested in growing these things.

Just as a warning, be careful if you grow both raspberries and black raspberries near each other. I hear the black raspberries can sometimes spread disease to the regular raspberries. You might look for the black raspberries that produce two crops. The kind I've tried produce once in the late spring or early summer. They do produce a fair amount, though.

You might also want to know that Lisco Calcutta is a burr gherkin with fewer spines and larger fruit. I haven't tried it, yet, but the regular ones are pretty cool. Just be sure to harvest with long sleeves and gloves!

I'd have listed Kiwano, too, but it's been pretty late here, and hasn't been the easiest crop to grow. It tastes really good, however, and it seems to be very easy for people to grow in some other areas!

I recommend using wonderberries in savory dishes with tomatoes. Most people try to use them in dessert, though, which can work—but they don't taste like people usually expect.

[hdrider]

Shule, thanks for the info, I have enough room to keep the berries separated and plan on planting several varieties. My biggest obstacle besides myself is learning what grows in NE Mississippi well. I am back on the family homestead but grew up in Wisconsin.

The burr gherkins can't be any worse than the bramble's that I have now when it comes to thorns.

[Shule]

[mention]hdrider[/mention]
You're welcome! I'm glad to be of help.

Although West India burr gherkins have spiky fruits, you can eat them skins and all (just chew them thoroughly before swallowing, or pickle them). The plants themselves don't have thorns or any visible dangers, but the vines and foliage can still scratch the skin while harvesting, somehow (if you harvest very much very quickly, anyhow), but with long sleeves and gloves, it's fast and easy by comparison. If you're just harvesting a few to several here and there, you probably don't need gloves or long sleeves.